The price adjustments coincide with the scooters’ official reintroduction into several cities following their winter hiatus. Additionally, the scooter rental companies are starting to introduce more robust, long-lasting models of their scooters, which should increase how long they can be used. However, the cost of manufacturing and operating those scooters is higher, so consumers will need to pay a little more for them.
Bird declined to give a complete list of the markets where price changes would occur, but some information is available thanks to local media sources and scooter watchers on Twitter. In Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, per-minute fees went up to 25 cents; in Baltimore, they went up to 29 cents; and in Detroit and Charlotte, North Carolina, they went up to 33 cents. In certain cities, such as Columbia, MO, Charlottesville, VA, and Bloomington, IN, prices are being lowered to 10 cents per minute.
Some cities are requiring the scooter companies to pay large upfront fees to account for the costs of enforcement. Baltimore charged Bird and Lime each a $15,000 fee up front and a $1 per scooter fee per day. In Raleigh, North Carolina, Bird added a $2 transportation fee on top of its $1 unlock fee after the City Council implemented a $300 per scooter fee.
In an effort to narrow the profit margins of its losing venture, Bird is experimenting with price adjustments. The micromobility company has charged $1 to unlock an electric scooter and an additional 15 cents per minute for each minute of use since its launch. Currently, Bird is decreasing that per-minute charge in some cities and effectively increasing it in others.
The unit economics of the scooter-sharing business is overall pretty terrible. Quartz crunched the numbers from Louisville, Kentucky, and found the average lifespan of a scooter was only 28.8 days, doing an average of three and a half rides per day. At these rates, Bird only recoups $67 on the cost of the average scooter — in other words, it loses a whopping $293 per scooter. And that’s not even factoring a host of other costs, like taxes and fees. Bird disputes these numbers.
In addition, Bird provides unlimited scooter rides for a monthly fee through a subscription plan called Bird One in a few cities. For consumers who depend on electric scooters for daily transportation, this plan is perfect.
To rent a Bird scooter, use the Bird app, which is compatible with iOS and Android smartphones, to find the closest scooter that is available. The next steps are to register, accept the terms and conditions, link a payment method to your account, and, if necessary, upload a picture of your driver’s license.
The per-minute usage fee is typically around $0. 15 to $0. 39, depending on your location. This implies that you would pay between $2 and $3 for a 10-minute ride. 50 and $4. 90 after including the unlocking fee. Remember that due to promotions or surge pricing during especially busy times, these prices could change and vary.
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Usually, there are two components to the cost of a Bird scooter: an unlocking fee and a per-minute usage fee. Usually, the first unlocking cost is one dollar, though certain markets may charge a different amount.
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